Studying Topography, Orographic Rainfall, and Ecosystems (STORE) with Geospatial Information Technology

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STORE is using innovative Geospatial Information Technology-based learning in high school environmental science studies with a focus on the meteorological and ecological impacts of climate change. The resources developed are using ArcGIS Explorer to increase students' learning and interest in science and careers and will be adaptable for teachers to improve classroom implementation. SRI International is the lead organization, in partnership with Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Project advisers and consultants include ESRI, American Meteorological Society, Cornell University, University of Michigan, and University of California, Santa Cruz, plus six design partner teachers from high schools in CA and NY. Haynie Research and Evaluation is conducting the external evaluation. A co-design and design-based research approach is being used to create a geospatially-driven high school laboratory and field intervention consisting of a cutting-edge GIT tool and curriculum module exemplar. Together, these resources provide students with hands-on opportunities to explore regional atmospheric, geospheric, and biospheric interactions in relation to models of projected climate change in California and New York. Through three microcycles of design-based research, the geospatial tool is being developed and tested with small diverse groups of high school students, including urban and rural minorities in California and New York. Participating students are being observed and their learning performances analyzed to determine how well they can both master the tool's features in tandem with using the tool in ways that help them learn the targeted content and practice the targeted skills. A curriculum module with a progression of exceedingly challenging lessons and embedded formative assessments is being developed. A professional development phase is examining the use of the tool and curriculum in detail during two years of classroom implementation. STORE will advance: (1) the use of time-based geospatial simulations of real scientific datasets and climate change models to build greater student understanding about climate change and its impacts on the biosphere; and (2) provide the STEM community with data on the implementation and evolution of this innovation, which will inform future technology-based inquiry-based K-12 classroom designs and professional development. Finally, the project will inform the STEM educational research community about how teachers with diverse student populations, technology availabilities, and other classroom characteristics used the learning modules and interventions that were developed during STORE.